


Baby Burner

by FeverTheSpirit



Category: Motorcity (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22139158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeverTheSpirit/pseuds/FeverTheSpirit
Summary: The Burners find a baby, who was orphaned because of Abraham Kane's robots. Julie convinces The Burners to take the baby in and raise it as their own. Surprisingly, the rest of the Burners are okay with raising a Baby Burner.
Relationships: Mike Chilton/Chuck, Mike Chilton/Chuck/Dutch/Julie Kane/Texas, Mike Chilton/Julie Kane
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Julie's P.O.V

"Kane's gone too far this time." Mike said, over the comms. Ever since I left Detroit Deluxe for good and became a full-time Burner, My dad has convinced himself that The Burner's abducted and brainwashed me, turning me into "MotorCity Scum". What he did this time was too far. He laid waste to dozens of MotorCity citizens. Most were injured and a lot were...dead. I can't believe he'd do this. We were checking for survivor's amongst the rubble. 

"Guys, get over here !" Texas said. "Texas found something that y'all might wanna look at!"

We rushed over to Texas. He was holding something wrapped in a blanket and it was crying loudly.

"I found him here, lyin' in the dirt... His parents were crushed by the rubble and Texas guesses that they threw him just in time...." Texas said. He opened the blanket, revealing a baby. He was caked in dirt and he was wailing loudly. I felt terrible.

"He's so small." Mike said. "Kane took his parents away...."

"Poor little guy.... Isn't there something we can do ?" Chuck asked.

"Its not like there's a MotorCity Orphanage." Dutch said. 

"Well... there is something we can do." I said. "Can we take him in ?" I asked.

"I dunno Jules... We aren't really prepared for a baby." Mike said 

"Mike we have to do something, we can't just leave him here on his lonesome." I said.

"I guess we can try to take him in and at least give him a place to call home." Mike said. 

"Who's he gonna ride with?" Dutch asked.

"I'll take him in Mutt. Chuck can hold him." Mike said. 

"With the way you drive, I don't think so." I said.

"I promise I'll drive smooth as butter." Mike said. "I'll drive so smooth that the little guy'll fall asleep."

"I think he should drive with Texas." Texas said.

"Yeah no, I think he's better with Mike on second thought." Dutch said. "At least Chuck will be able to hold him."

Texas gave the baby to Chuck and we got back in our cars, driving back to Mutt Dogs. 

~

"You really brought a baby back to HQ?" Jacob asked. "What are we gonna feed it?"

"I was checking him out, he has a tooth." Chuck said. "You can mush up some vegetables and we can make him some baby food." Chuck was holding the baby, who was sleeping in his arms.

"How are you gonna get diapers and clothes ?" Jacob asked.

"We can make some clothes and we can make our own diapers." I said. 

"Where's it gonna sleep ?" Jacob asked.

"We can rotate or we can all move into the biggest bedroom until we can afford to make a crib." Mike said. "Plus it'll make things easier when we fool around~"

"How many times I gotta tell you kids I don't wanna hear about your bedroom shenanigans." Jacob said, hitting Mike over the head.

"We have to make a crib, a carseat, clothes, diapers..." Dutch said.

"What're we gonna name him ?" Chuck asked.

"Texas Jr, duh!" Texas said, taking the baby from Chuck. "He's little TJ now!"

"Be careful, you'll wake him !" Chuck said.

"What about... Rory ?" Mike asked. 

"I like it." I said. "He'll be our little Roarin' Rory."

"Rory is a cute name, I like it." Dutch said.

"Rory it is then." Chuck said.

"I still like Texas Jr..." Texas mumbled. 

"Okay, we gotta get a schedule down." Mike said. "We need a rotation." 

"We'll talk about the rotation later, we need to give Rory a bath and get him fed." I said. We all nodded in agreement. 

"Texas'll bathe the little tyke." Texas said. "Y'all just focus on getting him what he needs." Texas said, carrying Rory off to the bathroom before we could say anything.

~

"Texas Jr is clean!" Texas said, holding Rory up. Rory was awake and giggling, wrapped in Texas' towel. Now that he wasn't dirty, we could see what he really looked like. Rory had caramel brown skin and cute little freckles. His hair was dark brown and curly. He was so cute. 

"I made a few makeshift cloth diapers from one of Mike's old t-shirts." I said. Texas gave me Rory. Rory tilted his head and reached out to touch my hair with his chubby hand. I chuckled.

"You're a curious little thing, aren't you." I said, smiling. I laid him down on the counter and put a cloth diaper on him. 

"There, good as new." I said. "Chuck, how are the clothes going?" I asked.

"I'm no seamstress but I think I got a made some decent little shirts, pants and a jacket." Chuck said. "Mike and Dutch are working on his carseat, Texas would you give them a hand ?" 

"Sure thing Chucky! Texas Jr is gonna have the best carseat!" Texas said, grinning and running off to the garage.

"How long do you think he's gonna call Rory 'Texas Jr' ?" I asked.

"I give it a week before he stops." Chuck said, coming over to us with a small shirt. He put it on Rory. 

"There, that should do it." Chuck said. "Jacob made some carrot and kale baby mush, let's go see if little Rory likes it, judging by the smell of it I don't think he will." 

"There's only one way to find out." I said, standing up, holding Rory on my hip. We made our way to the kitchen area. Jacob was putting the baby mush on jars. Jacob tossed a jar and a spoon towards Chuck. Chuck caught them and we made our way back to the dining area. I sat Rory down on my lap as Chuck opened the jar and scooped up a spoonful of baby mush.

"Here you go little tyke, it might not taste good but you need it so you can grow up big and strong." Chuck said, holding the spoon out towards Rory. Rory must have been hungry because he ate it without any problems. I chuckled.

"He has a healthy appetite for sure." I said, watching Rory eat. 

"Yeah, that's good." Chuck said. "So, what's he gonna call us ?" Chuck asked. "He's gonna have four dad's and one mom and a grandpa if Jacob will let him call him grandpa."

"We'll sort that out later." I said. I sighed. "I can't believe his parents are gone because of my father..."

"Hey, it'll be okay." Chuck said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "We'll give Rory whatever we can and he'll be okay..." Chuck kissed my cheek. "I promise."

I nodded and looked back down at Rory. Rory had dipped his hand in the baby mush drawer and was sucking on his hand.

"Ror, You're gonna make a mess." I said, giggling. Rory looked up at me with his big brown eyes. 

"Don't look at me like that." I said. Rory continued to look at me with those baby doe eyes. I groaned and gave him to Chuck.

"He's too cute !" I said. Chuck chuckled at me. 

"Well, we know you aren't gonna be the stern parent." Chuck said. Chuck finished feeding Rory and went to go clean him up. I sighed. I still couldn't help to feel a little guilty about Rory's parents. I know it wasn't my fault but it was still my dad who caused this mess.

~

"Okay Texas Jr, You're gonna sleep on Daddy Texas' chest till we finish your crib !" Texas said, holding Rory. Rory giggled and reached for Texas' hat. We were all getting ready for bed. Mike had the bright idea to push all of our beds together in Texas' room since Texas had the biggest room. We usually did this when we all decided we wanted to fuck but this time it was because we had a baby. 

"Tex, You've been hogging the baby all day, let me get a turn." Mike said.

"Aww, but Texas Jr wants to stay with Daddy Texas." Texas said. "Ain't that right TJ?" Texas asked. Rory giggled and hugged Texas' face. 

"Come on, just let Papa Mike have him for this one night." Mike said, holding his arms out. Texas rolls his eyes.

"Fine, but of he starts crying, Texas is taking him." Texas says.

"Of course Tex, now go to sleep." Mike said. I giggled, watching this go down. Dutch and Chuck had already fallen asleep, Dutch spooning Chuck. Dutch was beat from working on Rory's carseat and Chuck was beat from helping then make a high chair after they finished the carseat. Texas was out like a light as soon as his head hit his pillow. Mike laid next to me, Rory in his arms. Rory was starting to fall asleep.

"Goodnight Jules." Mike said, leaning over and kissing my forehead. 

"Goodnight, Cowboy." I said. "Goodnight Ror." I said, kissing Rory's forehead. Rory close his eyes and went to sleep. I laid my head down and closed my eyes, wondering what our life with a Baby Burner would be like now. I know it isn't going to be easy but it's better to have him here than in Detroit Deluxe with my father ruling there. Who knows what would happen to Rory up there.


	2. Chapter 2. Joyride

Mike's P.O.V

Early in the morning, I snuck Rory into the garage. I figured a good way to test his carseat was to take him on a ride with me. I knew the others wouldn't let me, well, Julie and Chuck wouldn't let me, So I decided to sneak out. I put Rory in his carseat and buckled him into Mutt. I checked to see if it was sturdy and smirked before getting inside of Mutt. I started the car and took off. I didn't go too fast cause I didn't want to startle Rory but I did go fast. I looked towards Rory, seeing him giggle. 

"You like that, Ror?" I asked. Rory only replied with more giggles. I chuckled. "You're gonna be a good Burner, Ror." I said. "You've already found your need for speed." I continued. "How about we go on a little joyride ?" I asked. Rory squealed. "I'll take that as a yes." I took off, going a little faster. I showed him the sights or MotorCity, careful to take the safe roads instead of the fun roads. Rory giggled and clapped his chubby hands. We drove around for an hour before I decided to turn back to the garage. 

~

When I got back to the garage, Julie and Chuck were waiting for me, arms crossed. Julie was glaring at me. I sighed and took Rory out of his carseat, holding him close before getting out of Mutt. 

"I know what you're going to say but-"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING ?!?" Chuck and Julie shouted at me. I heard Rory whimper. He didn't like the noise. He buried his face in my chest.

"Look, I was only testing out his carseat and I didn't go on any of the dangerous roads, we took the safe route." I said. 

"You still should have talked to us Mikey so we could have kept tabs on you and Rory!" Chuck said. 

"Look, I'm fine and Rory's fine." I said. "Besides, he really likes riding in Mutt, I think he really likes the hum of the engine." 

"Never take Rory on a joyride without asking again or else Rory's gonna have one less dad, got it ?" Julie said, poking me in the chest with her finger. 

"Yeah, got it Jules." I said. Her and Chuck went back inside. I looked at Rory. 

"Jules is scary, isn't she ?" I asked. Rory seemed to coo in agreement. 

"I know, besides, I'm not careless, I would never let anything happen to you." I said, taking Rory inside. Rory nuzzled my chest and cooed. I smiled. I entered the diner, seeing everyone stare at me while they were eating breakfast. I only shrugged it off and sat down. I sat Rory on the counter. Rory giggled and grabbed my nose. Chuck came over, reaching out for Rory. 

"Come on Ror, it's time to feed you." Chuck said, picking him up.

"Aw, come on Chuckles, I can feed him." I said.

"You had him all morning, besides you need to eat breakfast too." Chuck said, before taking Rory to his new high chair. I rolled my eyes. 

"So, you took Rory for a joyride?" Dutch asked.

"It wasn't a real joyride, I was testing out his car seat." I said.

"Well, how does it work ?" Dutch asked.

"It works great and he was really secure so yeah, Rory was fine." I said. "I didn't go as fast as I usually do and I took the safe routes." I said.

"You ? Taking the safe routes? That's a laugh." Dutch said.

"Well, I had a baby on board so I couldn't go fast." I said.

"That reminds me, Last night while we were building Rory's carseat, Chuck made me design and print out some 'baby on board' stickers and he expects us to put them on our rides." Dutch said.

"Why ?" I asked.

"Chuck said maybe whoever's trying to kill us next time might take into consideration that one of us might actually have a child with us when they see the sticker." Dutch said.

"That's dumb ! Texas ain't putting no dumb sticker or Stronghorn !" Texas said, barging in on the conversation.

"Then baby ain't riding with Texas!" Chuck yelled from across the room. Dutch and I laughed as Texas crossed his arms and mumbled about the stickers. 

"I'm not too fond of the idea either, Tex, but when you think about it, it is a pretty thoughtful idea." I said.

"I didn't know Rory could turn Chuck into an overprotective mama hen." Dutch said.

"Isn't he always like that?" I asked.

"Well now he's mama hen times 10." Dutch said. "Which is terrible."

"You're telling me." I mumbled.

~

Later, at night we were trying to get Rory to sleep. Rory just didn't seem tired. 

"Come on Ror, we just finished your crib." Dutch says. "I think you should go to sleep so we can go to sleep."

"How about I take him for a drive?" I asked. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. "When I was little and couldn't sleep, my dad used to take me on drives to lull me to sleep and it worked." I said. "I'll just be taking him around the corner and back."

"Fine." Julie said. "But Chuck's coming with you." Julie said.

"Fine by me." I said. "Is that okay with you, Chuckles ?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Chuck said. I shrugged and picked Rory up, putting him in his carseat and putting him in Mutt before getting in the driver's seat. Chuck got in the passengers seat. I started Mutt and drove off. I did what I said I would, driving around the corner. 

"How's he looking, Chuckles?" I asked.

"He's looking tired actually." Chuck said. "He's yawning, I think this might be working, Mikey."

"I told you." I said. "Plus, Ror loves riding in Mutt." I said. "Maybe when he gets older, he'll be in the passenger seat."

"And where will I be ?" Chuck asked.

"You can always try to break out Blonde Thunder again." I said. 

"No. Never again." Chuck said. "I'll probably still be riding with you but we could always build Ror his own ride."

"I like the sound of that." I said. We drove around a few more times before Rory fell asleep. We drove back to the garage. Chuck carefully took Rory out of his carseat. We stepped out of Mutt, Chuck carrying Rory upstairs to put him in his crib. We decided that our sleep rotation would be different since there's an odd number of us. Chuck made a wheel with all of our names on it. He'd spin in twice and two people would get Rory for the night. At the end of the week, we'd all sleep together with Rory's crib in the room. There was other uses for the wheel like letting it decide who had to change Rory or who had to feed and bathe him or who'd stay behind with Rory whenever we had to go out and fight KaneBots. Tonight, it was me and Dutch on the night shift. I wrapped my arms around Dutch's shoulders. 

"Let's go and watch over our baby." I said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, LoverBoy." Dutch said, pushing me playfully. I smirked and we headed up to my bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3. Artist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dutch spends some time with Rory.

Dutch's P.O.V

I was currently working on some designs for Rory's crib. I thought the crib looked a little plain, so I started painting. I also printed out some stickers to put on the crib. Rory was in his high chair, near me. I was on baby sitting duty while the gang went to check out something The Terra were planning. It wasn't good and it had to be stopped. I didn't mind staying back though. I could use a break from Texas leaning over my shoulder and telling me that I should put flaming dragons on Rory's crib. Of course, since I was working with spray paints, I had a safety mask on Rory. I put some stickers in front of him. 

"Okay Ror, What stickers do you like ?" I asked. "Do you like the purple and white cyclops or the yellow and black cat ?" 

Rory gurlgled and looked at the stickers before pointing at the purple and green cyclops. I smiled.

"Good choice." I said. Before I took the stickers off and went back to work, I figured Rory would get a little bored watching me. I put some paper in front him and some paints. I made sure the paints were safe enough for him. I watched as he curiously looked at the paints before dipping his hand in and slapping it on the paper. He chose the color blue. He seemed to like it before he went to experiment with the other colors. I smiled and went back to work.

~

It took an hour to finish Rory's crib. I looked back towards him. He was covered in paint, but he seemed to be proud of his work. He was smiling at the paper, which has several lines and handprints on it. I walked over to him. 

"Nice work, Ror." I said. "I'm definitely hanging this masterpiece up on my wall." 

Rory seemed happy with that since he was giggling. I leaned in and tussled his hair. He put his hands, still covered in paint, on my cheeks. Now I had two, multicolored, baby sized handprints on my face. Suddenly, the garage door opened at the rest of The Burners came in. Rory turned to look at them, squealing with joy and clapping his hands. 

"Wow, what happened to you two ?" Julie asked, coming over to us. "Why is Rory covered in paint ?" 

"Because, Rory, Like myself, Is an artist." I said, holding up Rory's drawing. "And this is his first masterpiece."

Mike came over and observed the painting. He pretended to think real hard. 

"Yep, I've decided, Rory is a little Picasso." He said, before picking Rory up and tickling him. Rory squealed and laughed, flailing a bit. He got paint on Mike's jacket and a little on his face. "Now the little artist needs a bath." Mike said. "It's my turn to bathe him, right?" 

"Yeah, and you need a bath too Mikey." Chuck said. "That fight must've made you work up a sweat, cause you stink." 

"Wow, how nice of you Chuckles." Mike said. "I thought you loved me and my manly musk." 

"Mike, if I didn't love you, I'd let you walk around burning the nose hairs off of everyone, now go shower and take Rory with you before the paint stains in his hair." Chuck says.

"Well Chuckles, there's another activity we can do tonight where I'm working up a sweat, it is Dutch and Julie's turn with the baby tonight~" Mike flirted. Chuck moved his hair out of his face, to show that he wasn't playing around with Mike. 

"Alright, alright." Mike said. "I'm gonna take Rory and shower." Mike walked off, holding a giggling Rory. Chuck came over to see Rory's crib. 

"I like what you did with it." Chuck said. "It's very nice."

"Of course, it could use more flaming dragons and daddy Texas kicking butt on it !" Texas said, barging in on the conversation. "Maybe at the bottom, you could've painted a mural of Texas, kicking some demon laser-eyed KaneBots and karate chopping The Terra !" Texas said. "Then The Terra would cry for mercy as the basked in my awesomeness while I continued to kick their butts!"

"Texas, I could not fit all of that on a crib and you know it." I said. 

"Course you could, you're Dutch and you're awesome and you'd find a way to make it work !" Texas said. I smiled slightly at being called awesome.

"Oh yeah, Dutch." Chuck said. "I wanted to talk to you about building a mobile for Rory's crib, he's been waking up and not going back to sleep a lot more, so I figured a mobile would help soothe him back to sleep, especially if we could play some soft music from it." Chuck said.

"Yeah, last night he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep, I saw Chuck pacing with him in the hallway when I got up to go to the bathroom." Julie said. "We didn't want to wake up Mike to take him on a ride, so we're figuring out other ways to get him back to sleep." 

"I think a mobile would work." I said. "Alright, I'll get started on it because it is our turn to watch over him tonight and I actually plan on getting a good night's sleep instead of staying up with a fussy baby."

~

Hours passed. Chuck was helping me with the mobile. He was downloading soothing songs for it to play to get Rory to sleep. His playlist was questionable but I didn't say anything.

"I forgot to ask." I said. "What was Kaia planning this time ?"

"It was insane." Chuck said. "Get this, they were making these bombs that would turn everyone in MotorCity into mutants to try and 'convince' everyone to make more bombs, send them to Detroit Deluxe and mutate everyone up there too." Chuck said. "And I dunno about you, but I would not look great with a third eye or a mutated mouth or whatever." 

"That's insane." I said.

"Thats not even the worst part, Duke of Detroit was working with them to make sure that he and his little minions were saved from the mutations in a bunker as long as he gave them supplies." Chuck said.

"That sounds like something that dick would do." I said. 

"Oh yeah, he also saw the "Baby On Board" stickers." Chuck said. "Now he thinks Julie's pregnant, he pat her stomach and said 'Congrats' before rushing off, probably so Mike wouldn't kick his ass." 

"Which means Duke is probably going to send people around here, snooping and doing whatever and he's gonna find out about Rory." I said.

"I don't know what I'd do if Duke found out about Rory. Duke would do something weird and stupid no doubt." Chuck said. 

"Mike wouldn't let him, none of us would." I said. "Rory's ours now and we've promised to give him a home." 

"Too bad he won't have a normal childhood." Chuck said.

"Well, we'll make it as normal as can be." I said. "Let's just hope that he won't have to worry about the stuff we worry about in his future, maybe Kane'll finally be brought down to his knees." 

"Wait, Julie is basically Rory's adoptive mom now... Does that make Abraham Kane his adoptive grandpa?!?" Chuck asked.

"Oh God no !" I said. "I hope not ! As far as we know, Jacob is his one and only adoptive grandpa and it will stay that way !"


	4. Chapter 4. LARP

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck is on baby duty.

Chuck's P.O.V

"Oh come on !" I protested. "I have to go out today, can I have baby duty tomorrow?" 

"You know the rules Chuckles." Mike said. "No one skips on baby duty." He said. "Just take Ror with you."

"He's probably just gonna do nerd stuff with his nerdy friends anyways." Texas said. I shot a glare at him. Mike handed Rory to me. 

"Come on, it'll be fine." Mike assured. "He can be Lord Vanquisher The II or something." 

I rolled my eyes at this and sighed.

"Fine." I said. "Where's that baby sling I made?" I started looking around for it until I found it on the rec room couch.

"You made a baby sling?" Mike asked. 

"Well yeah, I need my hands to be free when I'm looking over Rory." I said. "Have you guys seen his diaper bag ?"

"Julie had it in 9 lives, I'll get the bag for you." Mike said, walking off. I put Rory in the baby sling before attaching it to my chest. Rory cooed and reached out to touch my face. 

"Behave when I'm with Ruby and Thurman, Okay ?" I asked, looking down at him. Rory only grabbed my nose. I was gonna take that as a yes.

~

Thurman and Ruby came to pick me up in the van. They bowed to me.

"My lord." They both said. 

"Hey guys, I'm on baby duty today so we can't be so rough." I said bluntly. Ruby and Thurman looked up at me. Then at Rory, who was giggling.

"Lord Vanquisher has a child?" Ruby asked, stepping over to see Rory. Thurman followed. I moved Rory a little so they could see him. They stared at him. Rory stared back before reaching out to touch Ruby's sword out of curiosity.

"This is our Lord's son !" Thurman said. "He has a thirst for battle!"

"He will make s great warrior yet !" Ruby said. I sighed. Oh boy.

"So, where are headed?" I asked. 

"We must visit The Oracle first, then head to the battlefield." Thurman said. "Will you be partaking in the battle today?"

"I'm afraid I can't, I must keep Lord Vanquisher The II safe from all harm." I said. "And besides, Julie would kill me."

"As long as you guide us from the sidelines." Ruby said.

"That I can do." I said, looking down at Rory. Rory was chewing on his hands. Julie said he might be teething. I hope not. We wouldn't have anything to soothe hid gums and he'd be in pain all night, not to mention that we'd all lose out on sleep. 

~

After we visited The Oracle, we headed to the battlefield. The Oracle warned us of some new warriors who were trying to take our territory. I felt bad because I couldn't do much about it since I was watching over Rory. I sat on the sidelines, watching the battle go down. As I watched, Rory was watching too. He seemed curious. He babbled.

"Yeah, I know Ror, That guy could've easily dodged Ruby's attack, but he was just too slow." I said. I heard that if you could pretend to know what babies were saying and talked back to then, it helped them develop faster. Rory babbled again before squealing. "Tell me about it, his sword is so flimsy looking." I said. Suddenly my comm went off. Mike was calling. I answered. 

"Hey Mikey, what's up ?"

"Just checking in on you and Ror." Mike said. "How's he doing ?"

"He's doing fine, he's behaving and watching the battle." I said. "Oh yeah, Rory might be teething." I said.

"I'll look around for a medic and see if they have anything to soothe his gums." Mike said. Suddenly Texas butted in, hijacking the call.

"Or we could just put a little bit of whiskey on TJ's gums." Texas said

"Texas you are not giving alcohol to a child!" I exclaimed, glaring from behind my bangs. 

"My parents used to put scotch and whiskey on my gums when I was a baby and I turned out okay" Texas said. 

"That explains a lot." I said. "Texas, if you even come near my baby with alcohol, I'm throwing you onto the nearest garbage can and stop calling him Texas Jr."

"Aww, Chuckles." Mike said. "It's cute how you called Rory your baby."

"Did I?" I asked. "Well I guess I've become attached to him, we have had him for almost a full month." I said. "Hey Mikey, I've been thinking, what's Rory gonna call all of us ?" I asked. "We all know Julie's gonna be mom, and Texas has been calling himself 'Daddy Texas' but what about us?"

"Dutch already called dibs on being called Pa, I can be Dad and you can be Papa if you want." Mike suggested. "Or he can just call us whatever we or he feels comfortable with, he could just call me Mike if he wanted to."

"We'll figure it out when he starts talking." I said. "He's about five months old, right? He'll be saying his first words in about a month or two."

"I'll talk to you later Chuck, tell Rory I said hi." Mike said.

"He heard." I said. Mike hung up and so did Texas. Iooked back down at Rory. He looked up at me. 

"Buh-Buh." Rory babbled, reaching out to touch me. Suddenly, I heard Ruby yell out. I looked up to see she was being ambushed my two guys. Thurman was being ambushed by two guys also. They were in distress so without thinking I grabbed my cloak and headed onto the battlefield. 

"Leave my friends alone !" I said.

"My lord, you mustn't, you have to protect Lord Vanquisher The II from harm !" Ruby said. 

"Don't worry, I'll my secret weapon." I said, noticing Ruby's sword was near me. I had a plan. Rory was comcelead by my cloak but I opened it and pulled him out of the baby sling. "I cast the spell, Cutticus Babyus ! No one can resist this!" I said, turning Rory towards the 4 enemies. They stared at him. Rory was chewing on his hand. He then giggled. They all let out one big, collective "Awww!". Rory cooed and it made them gush over him even more.

"N-No ! He's too cute !" One guy exclaimed.

"Look at him and witnessed the awesome power of Lord Vanquisher The II !" I said. "Look at his chubby cheeks, his baby doe eyes, his cute little freckles!" I said. I knew what to do to finish them off. It was almost Rory's naptime. "He'll amaze you all with his next power move !" I said. They all stared at Rory again. Rory yawned and his eyes started to flutter shut. Sleepy baby. Always works. 

"He's just too cute ! We surrender, just take him away so I don't die of cuteness !" One guy said, before taking his gang and walking away. A crowd surrounded me.

"All hail Lord Vanquisher!" They all said. I shook my head. 

"Actually, Lord Vanquisher The II is responsible for this one." I said, putting Rory back in his baby sling. He was sleeping soundly. "And now that our little warrior has fought his first battle, he's sleepy and I need to get him home." 

"You will bring him again, right?" Ruby asked. I chuckled. 

"I'll try." I said.

~

I got back to HQ at about 6 pm. Rory was still sleeping. I entered the rec room to see everyone cuddled up on the couch and watching a movie.

"Hey Chuckles, how did everything go ?" Mike asked, looking up from the movie.

"Rory fought his first battle and won." I said, carefully taking Rory out of the baby sling and putting the baby sling aside, holding Rory in my arms. 

"He won the battle?" Julie asked. "You didn't give him a fake sword and just let him swing around, did you?' 

"Oh god no, Julie, I just used his cuteness as s weapon and they all surrendered." I said.

"That's my kid, making enemies run off with just one look !" Texas said. I shook my head, trying not to chuckle as I sat on the couch, sitting next to Mike, holding Rory. 

"So whatcha watching ?" I asked, resting my head on Mike's shoulder.

"Some weird horror-comedy movie Dutch picked out called 'Eating Raoul' " Mike said. 

"Whatever man, this movie is a cult classic." Dutch said, picking his head up from Dutch's shoulder to glare at Mike.

"I didn't say it was bad, I just said it's weird." Mike said.

"Sounds like a bad porno." I said.

"It's basically about this couple who hates sex, killing people who want to go to an orgy in their apartment building with a frying pan and taking the money, then they meat this hot guy named Raoul who gets thrown into the mix." Dutch said. 

"I'll sit here and watch then." I said. Mike reached out for Rory. I gave them to him since he my arms were tired. Rory continued to sleep soundly, only stirring a little bit. I enjoyed and savored quiet moments like this. No Abraham Kane, No Terra, No Duke of Detroit. Just us, being a family and enjoying each others company. 


	5. Chapter 5. Texfiy!

Texas' P.O.V

"Finally ! It's Texas' day with the baby !" I said, picking... ugh... Rory up from his crib. I never agreed on that name but I'm not allowed to call him Texas Jr anymore. Dutch said he'd get confused if all of them call him Rory and I call him Texas Jr. Why couldn't they all just call him Texas Jr? Well, Rory had just woken up. He was blinking the sleep from his eyes until he saw me. He let out a squeal of joy and grabbed my nose. "Let's get you changed at fed, then we can spend the day together." 

~

After I changed Rory, I took him to the dining area where the other Burners were and fed him. He was eager to be fed, opening his mouth as soon as I scooped up some baby mush. He pat his hand on his high chair and squealed.

"You must really like this stuff, huh ?" I asked, holding the spoon up to him. "Open wide ! Here comes the race car !" I said, making car noises. Rory opened his mouth and let me feed him.

"How come he doesn't make a mess when you feed him ?" Dutch asked, walking by.

" Cause I make the best race car noises." I replied. Soon, the jar was empty and I tossed it in the trash before picking Rory up out of his high chair. "Okay Bud, we're gonna watch some cartoons while your food digests." I said. "Cause we dont want you spitting up." 

"Texas you're a... surprisingly good guardian." Julie said.

"Uh duh." I said. "It's instinct, you just gotta know what to do and what not to do with babies." I continued. "It might seem hard but you just gotta trust your gut cause one small thing could lead to disaster."

"Wow Tex, that's kinda sweet." Chuck said. I sputtered and put on a slightly offended look.

"Chuckie, don't ever refer to Texas as 'Sweet' ever again." I said. "You're gonna make people think that Texas is goin' soft." 

"Tex, we all know you're a big softie on the inside." Mike said, turning his chair to face me. "There's no need to be ashamed of being a little soft."

"Texas ain't soft." I said. "Could a softie obliterate KaneBots and be able the knock lights outta any scum who dare mess with MotorCity?"

"Yes." Mike said. I huffed and left the room, carrying Rory. Texas was not soft.

~

After I watched cartoons with Rory, I started my work out routine. I never missed a work out and I wasn't gonna let baby day get in the way of it. As I did my push ups, I had Chuck place Rory on my back. Rory giggled and gripped my tank top. 

"Aww, are you having fun Ror?" Chuck asked. I had Chuck in here just to make sure Rory didn't fall and was steady while I worked out. 

"Of course he's having fun !" I said. "And when he gets older, we'll work out together and kick butt together!" I said. "I'm gonna teach him how to destroy KaneBots!"

"Hopefully there won't be anymore KaneBots when he gets older." I said. "Do we really want him to grow up in a world where we still have to fight Kane ?"

" 'course not." I said. "I want our little guy to grow up without having to worry about some guy who wants complete control over us or some mutants who wanna destroy us or some asshole who is obsessed with cars trying to kill us." 

"Even if he has to grow up in that future... He's one of us and we wouldn't let anything happen to him." Chuck said. 

"Look at you, getting bold." I said with a smirk.

"Tex, Rory is my baby and I won't hesitate to shoot someone for him, I still have my slingshot and I will aim right between the eyes." Chuck stated. 

"I like it when you talk like that." I said. "When you get all protective and stuff."

"Well I have to be a little protective." Chuck said. "I gotta protect Rory, all of us have to." 

"At least until he can protect himself and I can tell little Rory is a fighter, which is why we should've named him Texas Jr." I said.

"Oh my God Tex, we are not bringing this up again !" Chuck said.

~

After working out, I picked Rory up and took him to the dining area. He was whining and that meant he was hungry again. It had been a few hours since he ate. I saw Claire sitting and talking to Julie. She must've picked her up. Claire never really willingly came down here unless Julie picked her up. She always complained about how dirty or weird it was in MotorCity. It got annoying sometimes. I regret calling Julie a 'Deluxe Girl'. Claire was the true Deluxe Girl.

"Oh my gosh, it is true !" Claire said. "You have a baby!" She gushed. She came up to Rory, getting close. Rory stared at her. He then reached out to touch her. I let him touch her cheek before pulling him back. 

"Okay Rory, Daddy Texas has to get you fed." I said, taking him to his high chair. 

"I can't believe it's been two years since you became a full MotorCity citizen and now you have a baby !" Claire said. "It's like I hardly know you anymore."

"Well, I'm not a kid anymore Claire." Julie said. "I have to get serious about fighting my father's oppression and now that we have little Rory, I can't let him do this anymore." Julie said. "I want him to grow up in a world where he can be himself and not worry about being punished for it."

I smiled when I heard that.

"Well... Is MotorCity a safe place to raise him ?" Claire asked. "It's really... ick down here and I think children should be raised in a safe and clean environment and you guys can't be here all the time and I doubt you have a babysitter and you can't take him with you." Claire said. "Have you considered giving him to a family in Deluxe that has the... proper means to take care of him ?"

I frowned when I heard that. I put Rory in his high chair before turning towards them. I shot a glare at Claire.

"Now listen here, Deluxe Girl." I said. "Rory is our kid, Texas' kid especially and Texas is not gonna give him up to some Deluxian just cause you think it's 'weird' down here." I snapped. "Texas would rather have his kid grow up free and dirty down here than clean and stuck under Kane's control." I started to get worked up. "Our kid is better down here than up there cause then he might turn out to he a spoiled Deluxian brat like you." 

I saw Claire's face fall and Julie look uneasy. I went over to Rory and picked him up. I grabbed his baby mush and went to feed him in the rec room. Texas could not deal with this right now.

~

After I fed Rory, I put him down for a nap upstairs. While I started working all my frustrations out by going at it with my punching bag. I heard someone enter the rec room. I looked back to see Mike.

"What ?" I asked, going back to punching the punching bag. 

"Julie told me what happened with Claire." Mike said. "You should apologize."

"Apologize ?!?" I asked, turning to face him. "That Deluxian brat told Julie that our kid would he better off up there in Deluxe than down here with us !" I said. "She thinks our kid would have a better future as Kane's mindless puppet !"

"I don't think she meant anything bad by it, Tex." Mike said. "She probably thought we'd want Rory in a safe place and she thinks Deluxe is a safe place."

"Well it ain't!" I huffed. "We've had our kid for almost two solid months and she thinks giving him up to Deluxe is the safe route?!?"

Mike put his hand on my shoulder.

"You need to calm down." He said. "Look, Claire isn't like us, she probably thinks MotorCity is a dangerous place to raise a baby, which it kinda is but Rory's ours." Mike said. "He's safe with us and we'll keep him safe no matter what and nothing Claire says will change that." 

Mike's words calmed me down. I made sure no one was watching before pulling him into a right hug. 

"Aww, and you insist you're not soft." Mike said playfully.

"Chilton, Texas can crush you in his arms right now, don't ruin this."

~

Mike made me apologise to Claire but Claire actually apologised first. She said that she shouldn't have said what she said and that she knows Rory is safe with us and that Julie also gave her a stern talk. I noticed it was getting late. Rory had woken up from his nap hours ago. I had changed and fed him and he was already on his way to falling back asleep. Julie came up to me, seeing Rory's eyes droop.

"Hey... I'm sorry about what Claire said." Julie said.

"You don't have to apologize." I said. "You didn't say that stuff and it's already water under the bridge."

"I know but seeing you get all protective over Rory made me realize something." Julie said. She leaned in close to me. "You're gonna be a good dad." She then kissed my cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow Tex, I'm heading to bed."

"Night Jule." I said. I looked down at Rory, seeing him coo. Maybe Texas was getting soft. Just a little.


	6. Chapter 6. Duke of Detroit

Mike's P.O.V

It's been three months since we started looking after Rory. He was probably about 8, almost 9 months old now and he was a fast learner. He could crawl now, babble a lot more and he could even sit up by himself.

We were currently at Antonio's for dinner. We all sat in a booth while Rory sat in a high chair, eating soft french fries. We decided to introduce him to more solid foods. French fries might not have been the best choice but we had limited options. Besides, he's been eating soft fruits and vegetables at home, so I thought he deserved a treat. He picked up a fry and held it towards Texas. 

"I know, the fries are the best, aren't they Rory?" Texas asked, taking the fry. Rory clapped his hands and giggled before going back to eating. He had grease on his face and Julie reached over to clean his face. 

"Well well well Julie, You must've been farther along that I expected." A voice said. "You did a good job hiding that bump."

We looked up to see The Duke of Detroit and his minions. What was he doing here ? We all glared.

"I was never pregnant, jerk." Julie said. "We found Rory after his parents were killed."

"No wonder ! He don't look anythin' like any of y'all !" Duke said. He looked at Rory. "Coochie coochie coo." He said, getting close to Rory. Rory started to whine. Chuck picked Rory out of his high chair and held him in a protective hold.

"Aww, is the little guy scared of Uncle Dukey ?" Duke asked. 

"You are not his uncle." Dutch said. "Never call yourself that again." 

Duke glared at us from behind his sunglasses.

"What do you want, Duke ?" I asked. 

"Why so cold, Chilton?" Duke asked. "I only wanted to give you a gift, it's for the little one." 

"W-We don't want your gift." Chuck said. "Just take it and go."

"Oh you'll be accepting my gift." Duke said. "One way or another."

"Can you just go ?" Julie asked. "We don't want to start any trouble."

"Fine, Fine, I'm gone." Duke said, huffing as he left.

~

When we got back to Mutt Dogs, there was a package waiting for us. It had a tag that said 'From The Duke of Detroit'. I rolled my eyes. The package was pretty big and looked like it required some heavy lifting. 

"Tex, Dutch, You mind giving me a hand ?" I asked. Dutch nodded and Texas was already grabbing one side. We all lifted it up and carried it into the garage. After we sat it down, we opened it. My eyes widened in surprise. It was one of those mobile baby walkers. But it was in the shape of a car. My car. Mutt. 

"So he basically gave Rory his own Mini-Mutt ?" Chuck asked, stepping into the garage. He was still holding Rory. Julie was behind him.

"I don't trust it." Texas said. "It could be some sort of trap to hurt Rory." 

"Would Duke really stoop as low as to hurt a baby just to hurt us ?" I asked. 

"He's Duke." Texas said. "Pretty sure he's an evil dude who'd hurt anyone to get what he wants."

"I agree with Tex." I said. "We don't know what Duke did to it."

"I'm not putting my baby in that." Chuck said, holding Rory in a protective hold. "And it probably has a camera in it or something."

"I can run a check on it." Dutch said. "Just to be extra careful."

"Or we can give it back to Duke." Julie insisted. "Tell him that we don't need it."

"You know Duke won't take no for an answer." I said. "He'll just keep pushing and pushing."

"Mikey's right." Chuck said. "So what are we gonna do with it ?"

"We should just break it down and use it for scrap." Texas said. "It's probably the only thing it's good for."

"I'll look over it first and then we'll figure out what to do with it." Dutch said. 

"All right then." I said. "You should look at it tomorrow, we should all go to bed." I turned to look at Rory who was already asleep in Chuck's arms. "Ror's already asleep so now the only thing to do is worry about getting some sleep ourselves."

~

I felt myself being shaken awake. I bolted up.

"Huh ? What ?" I asked, looking around in a panic. "What happened, are we being attacked ?" My eyes fell on Julie. 

"Mike, Rory's gone !" She said, fear in her eyes. That woke me up.

"Gone ?" I asked. "What do you mean gone ?!?"

"Dutch woke up to check on him and he was gone and so was the walker !" Julie said. 

"Duke...." I said, glaring. "Is everyone awake ?"

"Yeah, Jacob is looking over the security footage now, come on !" Julie said, pulling me out of bed. I grabbed my shirt that was on my nightstand before slipping it on and following here. Why would Duke do this?

~

We found out that the walker had a camera and had to be controlled by Duke, probably via remote. We watched the security footage and saw that Duke maneuvered the walker out of the garage and into Texas' room. A pair of mechanical arms sprouted out, picked a sleeping Rory out of his crib and placed him in the walker, before leaving a recording on a tape and leaving. The footage showed that Dutch woke up fifteen minuets later to check on Rory since he was sleeping with Texas. I was angry. We were all angry. Chuck was panicking, having an attack. Julie was trying to calm him down and was trying to stop Texas from punching everything. Dutch sat there, quiet. 

"Did you listen to the tape?" I asked him.

"No, not yet, I went to see if Rory was with any of you guys first." Dutch said. 

"Did he have that walker take Rory to his house all by himself?!?" Texas asked. "What if he got hurt ?!?"

"Calm down Tex, Duke isn't that dumb." I said. 

"You're right, the outside footage shows that the walker took Rory outside and one of Duke's minions picked him up and put him in Duke's limo." Jacob said. 

"Tex, get the tape." I said. "We have to figure out what he's doing and get our kid back."

~

We were all listening to the tape. 

"Burners ! You might have found out by now that I have the little one." Duke said, over the tape. "Now, Chilton, you have something that I want and if you give it to me, I'll give you back the baby." Duke said. "Give me Mutt and he'll be back with you, safe and sound, fail to follow my orders... " he trailed off. "Then little Rory here might just become Duke Jr. Meet me at the Skylark Motel" The recording ended.

"Mikey, what are we gonna do ?!?" Chuck yelled. "That maniac has our baby !" 

"First, we all need to cool it." I said. "We'll get Rory back, we just need to think."

"The only way he'll give Rory back is if you give him Mutt..." Julie said.

"That's not happening." I said. "I got an idea, but we have to work fast so that we can get Rory back." I said. "We're gonna give him Mutt, we're just not gonna give him MY mutt."

~

It took a while, at least three to six hours. We were all tired and upset but everyone was working as fast as they could and I was certain our plan would work. We took what was left of Blonde Thunder and fixed it up to make it look like Mutt. It was basically an exact replica. 

"Are you sure you're okay with us giving Blonde Thunder away as a decoy ?" I asked Chuck.

"It's okay Mikey." Chuck said. "I was hoping to give it to Rory when he got older but we have to save him and besides, we could build him his own anyways."

I nodded. "Okay gang." I said. "Let's get our kid back."

~

We drove to The Skylark Motel and waited for Duke. I drove the decoy Mutt while the real Mutt was at Mutt Dogs. Decoy Mutt also had a surprise. Rayon had called Duke and told him we were waiting for him. I watched Chuck pace around.

"Chuckles, you gotta calm down." I said. He turned towards me. 

"Calm down ? Calm down?!?" Chuck exclaimed. "That psycho has our kid and God knows what the hell he's doing to him !" I approached Chuck and put my hand on his shoulder.

"You have to calm down." I said. "For Rory and he does get upset when he can sense that you're worried." It was true. Whenever Chuck showed the slightest bit of worry around Rory, he'd start whining and he'd be upset. It was like he could tell when Chuck was even the slightest bit of tense. Dutch and I joked that it was one of those 'psychic parental bonds' where a child always knew there was something wrong with their parent and a parent always knew there was something wrong with their child.

"You're right, I should cool it." Chuck said. "For Rory." We watched as a limo with bright headlights pulled up to to the motel. Out stepped Duke. But he wasn't holding Rory. I glared.

"Where's our kid ?" I asked, glaring. Duke chuckled. 

"Relax, Papa Dog." Duke said. "The little guy us safe and sound." The other side of the limo opened and out stepped Duke's minion, #2. She was holding Rory, who was squirming in her arms and whining. He never did that with us. 

"Alright, you got Mutt, now give us Rory." I said, tossing Duke the keys to the car. He smirked.

"I'm glad you obliged, Chilton." Duke said. He snapped his fingers and #2 gave Rory to me. I glared at Duke.

"You take our son again, things might not be so easy." I said glaring at Duke. I was pissed. Rory calmed down in my arms. I gave him to Chuck. Chuck held him tightly, hugging him and nuzzling his cheek.

"Never worry me like that again, I almost had a heart attack!" Chuck said, breathing in relief. We started to walk away. I hitched a ride in 9 Lives with Julie, Rory's car seat was also in there. Chuck was going to ride in Whiptail with Dutch. As we walked I heard Duke press the button on the keys to unlock the doors to Decoy Mutt. Just as he did, Decoy Mutt exploded. I could hear Duke's cries of horror. I chuckled as Chuck gave me Rory and I put him in his car seat before getting into 9 Lives. We drove off, leaving Duke behind so he could relish in his shock and horror as we headed back to Mutt Dogs.

~

All of us were scared to let Rory out of our sights for the next few days. Wherever he crawled, someone always trailed behind and whenever it was time for bed, we all crashed in Texas' room since his was the biggest. We would all squeeze in his bed with Rory placed safely in the middle. I never knew that a fear like having your kid go missing could really shake you up like that. And I never wanted to feel that feeling again. I was currently watching Rory as he played with some toy cars in the rec room. Chuck came and sat next to me on the couch.

"You've been keeping an eye on him the most out of all of us lately." Chuck said. I sighed.

"It's just that... I have the lingering fear that someone, be it Duke or someone else who hates us, Is gonna take Rory and that we might not get him back." I said. 

"You're a parent now Mikey and what happened with Rory was scary for all of us." Chuck said. "I'm still having nightmares that I'm waking up and his crib is empty with no trace of him" he said. "But we can't smother him..."

"I'm not trying to smother him." I said. "I don't wanna smother him, I just wanna keep him safe and being a parent is hard when you have so many enemies that want to kill you..." I said. "When we adopted Rory I didn't stop to think that he'd be thrown into all this..."

"None of us did." Chuck said. "We just saw a kid who's parents were murdered because some guy doesn't like that us MotorCity Citizens don't follow his rules." He said. "We saw a kid who had no where to go and was too little to even fend for himself... we saw a kid that needed a home and we gave him that and honestly..." Chuck looked towards Rory. "If I could go back to the first moment we met Rory and made him a permanent part of our lives... I wouldn't change a thing." He said. "If we're still fighting Kane by the time he's... I dunno, what age did we start fighting Kane ?" 

"When we were about... 18." I said. 

"Jesus, time flies." Chuck said. "We're like... adults now, we're legally allowed to drink from Jacob's liquor cabinet now."

"You know he'd still kill us." I said.

"True." Chuck said. "Anyways, if we're still fighting Kane by the time he was our age when we started, you think he'll realize we're fighting for freedom and he'll want to take over where we left off ?"

"I don't plan on fighting Kane for another 18 years." I said. "But I do think if we were ever in that situation, Rory would... He has my spirit."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing ?" Chuck asked. "Cause on one hand, he'll have your will to keep on fighting and on the other hand... He'll be a little too reckless." 

"When was I ever reckless ?" I asked.

"Mike, I swear your middle name is Reckless." Chuck said. "Michael Reckless Chilton."

"Don't call me Michael, It sounds weird when you say it." I said. "Only my sister calls me that and we don't talk anymore, how would you like it of I called you Charles ?"

"Okay, fine, Mikey." Chuck said,leaning on me. We saw Rory put his toy cars down and turn towards us. He started crawling until he was right in front of us. He reached his arms out, wanting to be picked up. I smiled and leaned down, picking him up, putting him in my lap. 

"I think it's time for your nap." I said, taking him in my arms. Rory rested his head on my chest and quickly fell asleep.

"I've never met a kid that falls asleep as easily as Ror." Chuck said. 

"Enjoy it while it lasts because the older kids get the more the love to fight sleep." I said. "It's like they learn that they can actually fight sleep and keep being curious."

"So, he's basically you?" Chuck joked. I chuckled and pulled him close, kissing his cheek.

"You're so cute when you joke." I said. "Come on now, let's get him in his crib and maybe we can get a nap for ourselves while he's asleep."


	7. Chapter 7. First Words

Chuck's P.O.V

"Rory, Say 'Papa.' " I said, trying to encourage him to talk. Rory looked up at me and tilted his head. Rory was 10 months old, why wasn't he talking yet ? I sighed. We were in the dining area and he was in his high chair and I really wanted him to say his first word. Was he non-verbal or something? 

"Ror, you can do it, Say 'Papa.' " I said. Rory only giggled and reached out to grab my face. I groaned. "It's no use !"

"Chuck, you shouldn't rush him." Mike said, standing next to me. "He'll be ready to talk at his own pace." 

"But Mikey, he should at least be saying basic words." I said.

"Maybe he's just a late bloomer." Mike said. "He just needs time, that's all." Mike came over to us and looked at Rory. Rory giggled loudly and reached for him. Mike picked him up and kissed his cheek. "Tell you what Chuck, how about we all work with him on his words later today?"

"You think that'll work?" I asked. 

"I know it'll work, he just needs a group support from all of his parents, right ?" Mike asked. "If he sees that all of us are encouraging him, it might inspire him to try harder."

"That might actually work Mikey." I said. "Group effort is the key." Mike handed Rory to me. "I'll go grab the others." He said, walking off. Yeah, this had to work !

~

This was not working at all. We were all trying to get Rory to talk but he just sat silent or he just giggled. It was frustrating but we were all trying to be patient. 

"Say 'Mama' Rory." Julie encouraged. "You can do it, say 'Mama' " Rory looked up at her. We were hopeful he was going to talk this time. Until he just blew a raspberry and giggled. Texas groaned loudly.

"What're we even pushing him for ?" He asked. "He obviously ain't ready to talk." 

"Maybe he has trouble with pronunciation ?" Dutch asked. 

"I don't know... maybe Texas is right." I said. "Maybe we're pushing too hard when he's not ready to talk." Mike sighed, kneeling down and looking at Rory.

"Rory.... what are we doing wrong?" Mike asked, looking over him. Rory teethed and slobbered on his hand, cooing softly while staring at Mike. We all groaned loudly. What were we doing wrong?

~

We continued to try to teach Rory words for hours. Eventually he got bored and crawled away to play with his toy cars. Dutch made him replicas of our cars. We decide to stop pushing him and let him play. The others sat on the couch, watching a movie. I sat next to Rory, watching him play. His replica of Mutt was his favorite. I remember one time it rolled under the couch and he cried for minuets before Texas finally benched the couch and got it for him. He loved it so much. I rested my chin on my hand.

"You really love Mutt, don't you little guy?" I asked. Rory giggled loudly as he hugged the toy car affectionately. "You love your toy Mutt and you love riding in Mutt, I guess you just love Mutt... Gosh you're basically Mike Jr at this point." I said, tussling his curly brown hair. Rory held the toy Mutt to my face.

"Mu-Muh-" Rory started to say. I gasped loudly. I moved my bangs out of my face and looked towards the couch. 

"Guys, Rory is about to say is first word!" I said, my voice turning into a slight high pitched squeal. Everyone scrambled over to Rory.

"You can do it Rory, just take your time." Mike encouraged. Rory held his toy Mutt up to Mike's face. 

"Muh-Mu." Rory said, waving his chubby hand with the toy. "Muht !" Rory shouted. Everyone looked on in shock. Except for Mike. He had pure pride on his face. Mike picked him up and hugged him.

"Oh no." Julie said. "This is going to go to his head."

"His first word was 'Mutt' not Mama or Dada or Papa or Pa, but Mutt !" Mike shouted with glee, holding Rory up. Rory only giggled loudly. We all looked at each other. I shrugged.

"At least he's talking." I said. "It just means he's one step closer to saying mama or dada or whatever."

"It's better than nothing." Dutch said. "I just hope that this doesn't go to Mike's head."

"It's not fair !" Texas said. "His first word shoulda been Stronghorn !"

"Mutt is easier to pronounce than Stronghorn." Julie said, shooting a glare at Texas. Texas only huffed and crossed his arms. I could tell that he was jealous. I wrapped my arm around Texas.

"Tex, he'll say your name soon enough, just give him time, kay?" I asked, trying to stop him from pouting. He was silent for a few seconds before sighing and giving me a smile.

"You're right, mop-head." He said, pressing a kiss on my cheek. Mike sat Rory down and Rory crawled over to Texas and I. Texas leaned down and looked at him.

"What's going on lil' man?" Texas asked. "You wanna say something to Daddy Texas?"

"Wah-Chaw !" Rory said, mimicking one of Texas' karate noises. Oh God. 

"I told ya we should've named him Texas Jr !" Texas yelled, picking Rory up. Julie, Dutch, Mike and I looked at each other in sheer surprise and terror. Now Texas was going to teach him now to make more of those karate noises ! Oh brother, this was going to go to straight his ego!


End file.
